Drilling Fluid Tank State Detection for Kick and Loss Alerts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Interpreting drilling fluid volume changes during drilling operations is challenging, making it difficult to create intelligent alarms and notifications for potential issues such as kicks or fluid losses, which can impact drilling efficiency and safety.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for detecting tank states and changes in tank volume based on real-time data from drilling fluid operations, using processors to analyze pump operations and detect undesirable interactions between the drilling fluid and the formation, enabling early detection of fluid loss or influx.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If drilling fluid volume monitoring is performed during drilling operations, then detection of undesirable interactions (kicks or fluid losses) is enabled, but complexity of interpreting fluid volume changes and creating intelligent alarms increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the continuous drilling operation into discrete tank states (e.g., drilling state, connection state, tripping state) based on pump operations and other parameters. Each state has specific expected fluid volume behavior patterns, allowing the system to interpret fluid volume changes in the context of the current operational phase, thereby reducing misinterpretation and improving detection reliability without excessive complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary classification of tank states based on pump operations and drilling parameters before analyzing fluid volume changes. By pre-establishing the operational context (what state the system is in), the alarm system can more accurately interpret subsequent fluid volume variations, reducing false alarms and improving detection accuracy without requiring complex real-time analysis of all possible variables
2Loss of time
If real-time analysis of drilling fluid data is performed to detect tank states and volume changes, then timely alerts for fluid volume anomalies are provided, but computational resources and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary classification of tank states based on pump operations and drilling parameters before analyzing fluid volume changes. By pre-establishing the operational context (what state the system is in), the alarm system can more accurately interpret subsequent fluid volume variations, reducing false alarms and improving detection accuracy without requiring complex real-time analysis of all possible variables
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors drilling parameters and pump operations to update tank state classification in real-time, creating a feedback loop that adapts to changing operational conditions. This allows the system to provide timely alerts while maintaining manageable complexity through dynamic adaptation rather than exhaustive analysis of all possible scenarios
Data Source
AI summary
A method may include receiving real-time data relating to drilling fluid for drilling operations that utilize a drilling fluid system that includes tanks and pumps, where the drilling operations include operations that pump the drilling fluid to a drill bit on a drillstring that rotates to extend a borehole in a formation, and where the drilling fluid flows to an annulus between the drillstring and the formation to apply pressure to the formation; detecting a tank state from a group of tank states based at least in part on the real-time data, where the group of tank states includes tank states defined with respect to one or more operations of the pumps; and detecting a change in tank volume, based at least in part on the tank state, as an indicator of an undesirable interaction between the drilling fluid and the formation